FOOD & CATERING
Confession: this post was inspired by a Bizbash gallery that highlighted the drink service at electric utility company ComEd s training center opening party. The caterers (The Entertaining Company) served cocktails in cups shaped like light bulbs. Cute.
Look, we re not in the catering business. But we are in the touches that matter business. That extra layer of give-a-shit matters. This kind of minor wow-factor is a good return on investment: not much harder to execute than your basic Gin & Tonic, and people like taking selfies with em. Anyway, none of these ideas are graded on flavor, just on buzz-factor, so you ll need to do your own taste testing before you serve these up.
Fancy Pants Jell-O Shots
You re never too old for oh wait, no, you are. You are too old for Jell-O shots. Maybe if you hide them in a classy gelatin dessert? Get the recipe on Jelly Shot Test Kitchen.
Disappearing Sugar Puffs
Oh, look: there s a martini where my cotton candy used to be.
Gradients
Man, this is some weapons-grade visual eye candy. You can t just pull this out whenever. Only reach for this one when you ve gotta impress the French Ambassador and it turns out his daughter is an art director at Pantone and his wife Chloe keeps the finest nasturtium garden in Paris.
Gradients II: Coconut Lavender Lemonade
Oh, wait, his wife s name is Violet? Got you covered.
Edible Glitter
They call this one the Golden Girl . I call it The Passive Aggression grapefruit juice, prosecco, and a teaspoon of sparkly frustration. Maybe the cleanup crew can just lick this off the floor?
LED Ice Cubes
These decorative LED ice cubes are battery powered and glow in several colors. They re not only functional, but also water submersible. $9 from the Gadget Flow.
Dry Ice
The Cookie Rookie serves up a reminder that too often, dry ice gets filed under kid s Halloween cauldron when it can also pull off 30 shades of satin in the form of this smoking triple berry martini.